One thought on “Deception: Spies, Lies And How Russia Dupes The West”

While this was an interesting book with lots of enticing anecdotes, it felt a little disorganized, unfocused in scope, and jumbled. It went from present to past to somewhere in between when it might have taken events, even if they were not necessarily geographically or politically related, chronologically. From another angle, it seems like Lucas wanted to write a book about spying in Estonia or the Baltics but knew that the topic was too esoteric and therefore had to give it wider scope. Essenti [...]

As my husband noted when he read it, this book is really three mini-books in one. There is a really interesting section about the state of Russia today and how such a place gave rise to spies like Anna Chapman. Then there is a section about some random stories of espionage from WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. Then there is a section about another specific spy, Herman Simm from Estonia. These three mini-books are not woven together very well, which means that no matter how interesting they are on th [...]

4.5 stars. Anything written by Edward Lucas is worth reading. This is a long overdue wake up call. Edward's bottom line is that Russia is actively and successfully exploiting Western vulnerabilities associated with having open societies and having an unfounded trust in Russian support for international economic and security norms. Russia is going to incredible lengths in intelligence efforts to achieve its state aims of influence, political / economic / military power, and internal control (this [...]

An interesting recount of the aggressive Russian espionage in the West. Some of the stories are known, but the author presents facets of the murky world of espionage and counterespionage not analysed in newspaper reports.It would have been exciting as a thriller but the book depicts a chilling reality - the increase of the Russian espionage under Putin's paranoid dictatorial regime to the level URSS used to have before its dissolution.It is frustrating the book was published in 2013. Since then [...]

I found this a slow read. The best part of the book was about the state of Russia today. The vignettes about WWII and the cold war were disjointed and the entirety did not flow well together. There was a lot of supposition (which may be inherent in spy craft), but does not necessarily make for engaging reading.

_Deception_ is an excellent look into the world of espionage, focused on what Russia has done in the past and what it is currently running. The book was published in 2012, but it is even more relevant today, into 2017. The Russians are continually running spies and using influence to control governments and corporations around the world.One of the biggest take aways for me is how the government of Russia, its security services are tightly entertained with business and organized crime. There is a [...]

I've met Edward Lucas at my former university when he was delivering a commencement speech in June 2015. Ever since I wanted to read one of his books. It also turned out that I am currently writing my MA thesis on Russian influence in the West, and this book evoked my interest to the topic even further. And now I on my way to finishing my MA thesis and I came across perfect statement that proves the reason why Europeans should understand Russia, and what is the mere problem of treating it as equ [...]

An interesting - current and historical account of russian spying strategy and methods. Lucas frames this book as a warning to the west's continued complacency towards a corrupt and often criminal regime. While the West certainly takes the blame for allowing Russia's financial and economical assets both private and public, to influence western policy towards Russia, the author explains how the biggest issue is actually the West's naivity in their awareness and skewed soft approach towards russia [...]

After reading this book, I had to spend half an hour lifting up all the beds in my house to make sure there were no reds hiding underneath it.Seriously, this is dripping with barely-concealed Russophobia. The author is apparently convinced that, not only did the international communist conspiracy exist, but that it's still ongoing, albeit with communism replaced with Russian. And the anti-Russia bias is crazy. At one point, Operation Gladio and the Strategy of Tension are referred to as "a bit o [...]

I really enjoyed the author's raw dislike of the Russian state. It's too rare among Englishmen.It's always fun to hear about the ineptness of the British secret service and that even though Russian spies seem comically bad, they are effective.I liked the author's observation that it's hard to spy on Russia. It's easy to convince spies to live in the West, but try to convince a westerner to live in the crappyness that is Russia :)Even if you do that, good luck having him blend in.

A chilling glimpse of Russian spying by an author who obviously dislikes Mr Putin. However the history of Western involvement after the Bolshevic revolution may explain why the Russians are somewhat paranoid about the West- the history covered in this book as well. The latest edition of the book covers everything up to Pussy Riot being arrested.

Fantastic book. Excellent research and the author clearly exposes the threat the former USSR and now Russia poses to the entire world. Anyone who believes the end of the Cold War means Russian threats have disappeared are wrong.

It's a well-researched book, providing insight to the unruly Russian way (to put it mildly), akin to the wild wild west where anything goes, as long as you're in power. If only anyone could point me to an equivalence of this to the Chinese way, I should be so glad.